As construction on U.S. 36 ramps up to unprecedented levels, transportation planners are offering incentives to get solo drivers out of their vehicles and into buses and vans -- or to just skip the commute altogether and work from home.

36 Commuting Solutions, a nonprofit mobility advocacy group, is taking a three-pronged approach to the challenge of reducing congestion on the Denver-to-Boulder highway while it gets ripped up and reconstructed with a new lane in each direction.

The Louisville-based organization is offering $2,500 in financial assistance to employers along the corridor willing to establish new telecommuting arrangements for employees. It also aims to give away 166 Regional Transportation District 10-ride ticketbooks -- valued at $45 each -- to get people on the bus. Lastly, it will cover the first three months of a vanpool service for commuters in the corridor.

"With lanes narrowing and the slowing of speeds on U.S. 36, we're anticipating it's going to cause heightened congestion in the corridor," 36 Commuting Solutions executive director Audrey DeBarros said Tuesday. "The fewer vehicles going through the project, the safer and more efficient the project can be constructed."

According to a mobility study conducted last year by the organization, solo drivers made up 69.3 percent of commuters in the U.S. 36 corridor in 2011. That was down from 70.5 percent the previous year. In 2011, carpooling accounted for 8.4 percent of all commutes in the corridor, bus travel accounted for 6.2 percent and telecommuting claimed 7.6 percent of all commuters.

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DeBarros said while bus passes and vanpool subsidies can help get people to consider modes of travel other than trips as a solo driver, there is an infrastructure in place that makes it possible for people to never even have to venture out onto the road at all.

Telecommuting, or teleworking, is a perfect fit for the job-based corridor that U.S. 36 has become, DeBarros said.

"The U.S. 36 corridor has many primary employers, and many global companies are headquartered here, so we think telework is a good option," she said. "We have telework experts that we are coordinating this whole thing with, and they will be working with companies to jump start their programs."

Telework trainings will be offered quarterly at various locations throughout the U.S. 36 corridor, and attendees will learn the tools to implement a telework program. The first training is scheduled for Feb. 20 at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield.

DeBarros admits the $2,500 being made available to help cover the costs of establishing a telework program -- computer hardware, software or policy development -- is nominal. But she hopes the money will, in some small way, help heighten awareness of the benefits of the practice.

Incentive programs to promote alternative modes of transport along U.S. 36 have been offered in the past.

For the past two summers, 36 Commuting Solutions has given away prizes to commuters who logged their travel on RTD buses. And last fall, the Denver Regional Council of Governments launched an ad campaign entitled "Don't be an SOV" (SOV stands for single occupancy vehicle.)

Debra Baskett, transportation manager for the city and county of Broomfield, said it will require a true partnership between commuters and employers to make the ride in the corridor smooth over the next couple of years.

The highway is undergoing its most significant makeover since it was built 61 years ago. Over the next couple of years, U.S. 36 will be widened between Federal Boulevard and 88th Street to accommodate a bus rapid transit system and a dedicated lane for buses, high-occupancy vehicles and toll-paying solo drivers.

A second phase of the project will bring the improvements all the way to the Table Mesa park-n-Ride in Boulder.

Baskett said many companies in Broomfield already try to be flexible with their employees' schedules. Just switching from a five-day week to a four-day week makes a big difference.

"It gets people off the road one day a week," she said.

Mindy Crane, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, said much like the future U.S. 36, the incentive program is just trying to provide more alternatives for commuters.

"We're trying to provide various options and incentives for what works for them," she said.

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